Day 17 of the Chicago Bears offseason. I made a soup with a bunch of stuff I had in the freezer (frozen pasta noodles), fridge (garlic, vegetables), and pantry (pasta sauce, broth, various seasonings) โ and it turned out well. I might share the recipe on social media later if I remember to do so. Sharing is caring, after all.
P.S. – Sorry about the site not loading earlier.
- The Chicago Bears will introduce Ben Johnson as their new head coach at an 11 a.m. CT press conference at Halas Hall. Hooray! It’s here!
- Jeff Hughes (Da Bears Blog) has a bunch of notes on the Johnson hire and I would encourage you to give it a read. One of the most important bullet points (for me, at least) was this: โJohnson did have questions re: the structure of the organization, primarily Kevin Warrenโs role in football operations. Iโm told George McCaskey made it clear that football ops are not in Warrenโs purview.โ Iโm glad that got cleared up by the top boss.
- NFL Networkโs Kyle Brandt is one of my favorite media personalities because he is fun and doesnโt this football thing too seriously. Hereโs what he had to say about the Bearsโ hiring of Ben Johnson:
Thoughts on Ben Johnson and the Bears pic.twitter.com/3HWDIIXaVu
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) January 21, 2025
- Itโs a 3-minute clip, so I wonโt transcribe everything. However, I did love this quote: โThey hired the most-wanted coach on his first stop with the idea that it would be his last stop. It isnโt just that the Bears chose Johnson, Johnson chose the Bears. He chose Caleb Williams. He chose to stay in the north. โฆ He was getting wooed by Tom Brady and he chose George McCaskey. George McCaskey just won a beauty contest with Tom Brady. Scoreboard, look up at it. McCaskey 1, Brady 0.โ
- Hang the banner!
- Sometimes, a really good headline is all you need to capture the spirit of the thing. For instance, the headline accompanying Jason Lieserโs latest at the Sun-Times hooks me in as a reader: โBlending from variety of influences, new Bears coach Ben Johnson looks to make team smarter, quicker, bolder.โ Boom. If youโre not getting reeled in to read this based on the headline alone, then I donโt think youโre human.ย
Peter Schrager on Ben Johnson choosing the Bears:
On Ben Johnson CHOOSING the โฆ@ChicagoBearsโฉ . pic.twitter.com/KFS7VOvtED
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) January 21, 2025
- The money quote: โWhen it came down to it, he looked at two possibilities โย the Raiders and the Bears. The Raiders? Clean slate, go and build the team. But with the Chicago Bears, thereโs a comfort. And the comfort is Iโve got the guy. Iโve got the quarterback. And, obviously, Ben Johnson not only wanted the quarterback, but he wanted that logo and he wanted the ability to bring this franchise back into relevance.โ
The Bears official website and the folks at Bears Wire have done a wonderful job curating what experts and insiders around the league have said about the Ben Johnson hire.
- On the other side of the coin, it doesnโt sound like Detroit Lions fans are taking the news well:
- So, on the one hand, I wanna LOL till my face turns orange. And on the other hand, I like that the Bears and Lions have a budding rivalry. There is something about having an active and competitive rivalry that does so much to drive my interest as a fan. Donโt get it twisted. Iโm always locked in. But when you can spice it up, then I really get amped.
- Former Bears running back David Montgomery had the best reaction to the news of his former OC leaving to join his former team:
- Do I realize that folks care very little for what Mike Martz has to say? Yes. But do I also realize that Martz’s rรฉsumรฉ and credentials are worth hearing him out? Also, yes. Here is what the former Bears offensive play caller has to say about the hire:
โI think heโs a once-in-a-generation kind of coach. They just donโt come around very often like him. They got this one right. Iโm just over the moon on this one. Itโs great to see Chicago have something exciting happen to them like this.โ
- Mike Martz often comes off as a curmudgeon who yells at clouds. So to hear him say that the Bears got this one right blows my mind.
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